About

Sirius Online is a Game made by two brothers. namely Rene 'Dex' Dirks and Michael 'Xaymar' Dirks. We aim to recreate the feeling and playability of Freelancer and grain it with bits of more freedom, dynamic markets, more rewarding exploration and much much more.

While we both are highly skilled in what we do (Xaymar on the Tech Side, Dex on the Content side), there is only so far we can go without funding.

And this is the part where YOU join the game!

Time for some history lessons. Back in 2001 I, Dex, enjoyed the heck out of Freelancer. It was so well done, so captivating, I wanted to expand on it. Nearly sixteen years ago I was already into programming, made some insignificant minigames, and decided its the time to dive into the way of making space games. Sixteen years later I have a pretty solid prototype with gameplay ready and quite a few players.

Xaymar joined the games' team by end of 2015 officially after making some wonders happen on servers and graphical effects. With a clear grasp on how to do technical things on games, he is the lead for what is doable and what not.

Together we unite as Digital Dawn Studios.

We aim for an initial funding goal of 25.000€ (plus estimated fees). This will secure the development for a year, at least. This includes:

Rent

Internet

Power

Servers (~800€/yr)

New Ships and Textures

Hiring a dedicated Sound Designer to create and Master a fitting soundscape

Hiring a professional Musician to provide a backdrop

Hiring Visual Artists to upgrade UI, Skysphere and much more

Creating and Building a Boxed Game version

Creating your Rewards

All of this is a pretty close calculation, and we will do the best to use this budget as efficient as possible. If we reach more than the initial targeted sum, we have some stuff for you to make it worthwhile!

This is, for some, a laughable stretchgoal, but in person, I find this really important! With just these few "Extra Bucks" I can negotiate a deal with the company who prints your collectors edition to DOUBLE the size of your models!

30.000 € is some sum to work with, and therefore we can work with it to create additional systems, connected by discoverable jumpholes, and later creatable star gates!

With 35.000 € at hand we can plan with a second universe, a PVE Server to be precise. While this takes all risk and therefore objectively part of the fun out of the game, it has been requested. We deliver if we can reach this goal, because it eats additional time to make this work and implement a duel system.

40.000 € grants us enough Air to test and add VR-Support to Sirius Online. As the Hardware is pricey and not very widespread, its one of the higher tiers. Not everyone wants or can use VR, so consider this step a gimmick!

We have come farther than I expected, to be blunt. This tier upgrades all reward tier pledges with a special skin for an unannounced ship, extends the collectors edition with a full set of the Sirius Tactics Collectible Card Game and every backer gets a special Tag assigned to their name!

Being definitely not a digital bonsai plant, 50k € is my final Stretch goal. With such an amount I will hire a 3D Artist to remake all the ships, Stations and other models into even more detailed version, This brings the game to a new level of visual fidelity.

As you see I have quite a few rewards already done and at my desk. I will share all progress I can with you and be as open as possible!

Risks and challenges

Sirius Online is an Early Access game that will never end as long as there is still blood in my veins. I worked 15 years on it and I won't give it up just because Its in my mood somehow.

However there can be times where we just work on something so extensively and concentrated that we just can't do something else. Shifting Engines would cause this mostly, as we both would have to learn the ropes.

It could happen that this game changes to something you wouldn't like anymore, but that, in all honesty, is unlikely.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €85 or more
About $96

Tier 2, plus a Rare Collectors Edition, Containing Posters, Postcards, a 10,5cm long Model of the Ship of your Choice and a Shirt of your Size, either Black or White with the Game Logo and your Backer Name on it!